Argentinos host Estudiantes in Tonight’s All Argentine Semi-final.

By: Mauro | November 13th, 2008

Asociación Atlética Argentinos Juniors vs. Club Estudiantes de La Plata (Estadio Diego Armando Maradona, La Paternal, Buenos Aires, Argentina)

LIVE @ 3pm PST on Fox Sports Español. Gamecast here. Online TV here.

I have to keep reminding myself that in order to get to the Semis, Argentinos had to take out some quality opponents. But Estudiantes did not have an easy road themselves but did face, including Argentinos, a few clubs they knew pretty well. And as luck would have it, these two will be seeing each other for their next three matches, between the Sudamericana and the Argentine Clausura.

Both teams have had former glories. Estudiantes won the Copa Libertadores in 1968, 69 and 70, beating Manchester United in the Intercontinental Cup in 68. Keep in mind that these included home and away legs, with Manchester United having to play at Boca’s La Bombonera where they lost 1-0 and Estudiantes earned a 1-1 draw at Old Trafford. Nowadays, Ferguson’s team wouldn’t set foot on South American soil for nothing less than a very large briefcase of cold, hard cash.

Argentinos had their glory days, most of which were actually during my lifetime. They lifted the Copa Libertadores in 1985 and won the Argentine league in 1984 and 85, something that is unheard of from a club with Argentinos’ profile. They also lifted the Copa Interamericana – basically the champs of South America vs. the champs of North America, beating Trinidad’s Defense Force, 1-0.

Argentinos coach, Néstor Gorosito, has settled on the very same line up that sent Palmeiras packing in the Quarter-finals, 1-0 in the first leg, at Palmeiras and 2-0 at home in Buenos Aires. So expect to see that amazing duo of Nicolás Pavlovich and Gabriel Hauche making it a tough night for the Estudiantes back line.

Estudiantes are playing the best football I’ve seen them play since they stole the 2006 Apertura from under Boca’s nose. Estudiantes added Mauro Boselli and Gastón Fernández to their offensive set and it has been exactly what they were missing. They beat Botafogo in La Plata 2-0 and then drew 2-2 with two big away goals in Rio de Janeiro.

This Estudiantes side is littered with hard nosed, tough players that fight for every ball and rally around each other during tough times. At the Estadio Diego Maradona, most teams have trouble settling in to the smaller dimensions of the pitch and it has proven to be their undoing in this Sudamericana. But in this case, Estudiantes’ pitch is only slightly larger.

In this match, we will see two of the five leading goalscorers – Alex got #4 last night – in this competition. Boselli for Estudiantes has 4 and so does Pavlovich for Argentinos. If we are lucky, we’ll see one of them break ahead of the pack. BTW, Alex, Pavlovich and Boselli are the only active goalscorers still in this competition.

Bottom Line: These two sides know each other very well since they play each other twice a year. The last meeting between the two sides on May 4th, Argentinos beat Estudiantes on their ground 2-1. Estudiantes doesn’t have a good record against the home side on this pitch. The last time they beat Argentinos here was in the 2004 Apertura, 1-0. Also, keep in mind that the furthest that Estudiantes have had to travel in this competition was to Rio de Janeiro and from La Plata, that’s maybe a two hour flight.

The way I see it, the match could go one of two ways. Because they are both Argentine squads, this could be an ugly, Liverpool – Chelsea, Champions League Semi-final, type of match or it could be a bit more open and flowing as a good match like this should be. Let’s keep our fingers crossed for the latter.

My Pick: 2-1 to Argentinos. I know, I know, it’s the safe bet but I really think that Argentinos can get a leg up in this competition and go into La Plata for the second leg. Boselli will get goal #5 and try to keep Pavlovich and Alex of Inter at bay. Not sure if Pavlovich will score but I expect him to give it hell.

Feel free to check the CONMEBOL website for results and information about upcoming matches and for those of you in need of a bracket to get your heads around the competition, get an updated one here.